


(Teen Version Chapters) Hand of Fate

by Sweetestcondition



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-01-07
Updated: 2018-01-07
Packaged: 2019-03-01 12:44:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,229
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13295148
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sweetestcondition/pseuds/Sweetestcondition
Summary: These chapters will be the Teen Rated versions pulled from my larger fic Hand of Fate https://archiveofourown.org/works/13052373/chapters/29855124.Please don't start reading from here, these are just the extra chapters for those who wish to read without the sexier scenes.It begins with Chapter 18





	(Teen Version Chapters) Hand of Fate

            This is the Teen Version of Chapter 18 with the sexy scenes made less explicit as requested. Chapter 19 will be uploaded on Monday on the main fic page (I hope it's done by then!) As always, thanks for reading.

* * *

 

Next update hopefully Monday. As always, drop a note and let me know what you think!

 

              As Rey tried lifting her head, the muscles of her neck were suddenly no match for the weight of it, and she dropped back onto the pillow. She could barely see the top of the door from over the arm of the couch if she twisted.

              Ben whispered a reproach against her ear. “Lie still.”

              Quinn pulled the blaster from his belt and readied it, pointing it squarely at the closed door. His voice shook as he shouted, “Emperor Ren has commanded everyone stay away!”

              “Open the door. That is an order!” General Hux’s sharp voice carried easily through the walls.

              Quinn looked as though he was being ripped in half, before Ben covered Rey with a throw blanket, and shouted over his shoulder. “What is it, General?”

              “You can’t leave a trail of dead bodies whenever someone looks at you wrong, Ren.” Hux was fuming – Rey didn’t have to see him to know that much.

              Ben lifted a hand and she felt the cold ripple in the Force as he slid the door open.

              Hux stormed in, his face three shades redder than Rey had ever seen it. “What is going on, Ren? You’ve single handedly ruined our chances at this deal. The look on Mayor Hivushi’s face when – “

              “ _Emperor_ Ren,” he corrected, and Rey recognized the fire in Ben’s eyes. He was livid, teetering on the edge of falling into that dark abyss again.

              At first, when Hux’s face began changing from red to purple, Rey thought the poison was now morphing the colors in her vision. Then she discovered the real reason. Hux was a foot off the floor as Ben stood, fingers flexed at his side. “The future Empress was poisoned, General. Something had to be done.”

              Ben flicked his wrist, and Hux’s body crashed against a curio cabinet near the entry, shattering glass and the assorted priceless trinkets stowed inside.

              “Ben, please,” she breathed, her throat like sandpaper. “I’m okay, just…”

              “Just stop throwing people against the wall.” Kezzik’s rough drawl cut through the darkened hotel room as he stepped in through the open door. “Besides, poor Hux is not to blame.”

              “Get out,” Ben demanded.

              “Is that any way to treat a friend?” Kezzik played hurt. “Especially one who brought an antidote for the bundar root?”

              Ben leveled a threatening gaze at Kezzik before crossing the room and swiping the vial from his hand. “How did you know it was bundar root?” he accused.

              “I looked into Jeel’s mind. How else?” Kezzik split a glance between the two of them. “The man has some very interesting secrets. But then, who doesn’t?”

              Kezzik gave Ben a wry smile and Rey couldn’t help but wonder what that look meant. What unspoken secrets lay between these two men?

              Ben shook the clear glass vial, eyeing it suspiciously.

              “Don’t believe me, still?” Kezzik asked, eyebrows raised. “Tsk-tsk.”

              Ben responded with a scowl.

              “Look into my mind then. You can see the memory of my visit to medical supply to buy this ridiculously overpriced antidote for your girlfriend.”

              Rey felt the waves of anger and fear rolling off of Ben and wondered how Kezzik could stand so close to him. Ben was practically ready to explode darkness all over the walls of the hotel room and Kezzik appeared completely unaffected.

              “Interesting,” Kezzik said. “So _protective_.”

              “Shut - your - mouth.”

              Kezzik mimed zipping his lips, then tapped the side of his head, encouraging Ben to search his thoughts.

              Ben focused his gaze on Kezzik for a few moments and Rey wished she could see whatever silent exchange was going on. Then, Ben dropped his shoulders, huffing, and crossed the room to kneel before the couch where Rey still lay dazed.

              He raised her to sit with a hand behind her back. The room spun with the movement.

              “Drink,” he said. “It will pull the last of the poison out.”

              The concoction was chalky and thick, but she managed to swallow it between gags. It burned all the way down before settling in a tight knot in her stomach.

              The scraping of glass against tile issued from the other side of the room and Rey was reminded that Hux was still on the floor.

              Ben rose from his knees to face Kezzik. “Why did he do it? What reason did Jeel have?”

              “Well he obviously wasn’t trying to kill her,” Kezzik said. “Only to loosen her lips and possibly improve her dancing, though it didn’t help much with that, I’ll admit.”

              She could swear she saw him wink at her then. She was going to strangle him when she had her strength back.

              “There are better poisons than bundar root for quick deaths,” Kezzik continued. “He probably thought she’d only make a drunken fool out of herself, spill some of your secrets. I don’t think he intended on ruining the ball and he certainly didn’t intend for you to find out.”

              Ben rammed a fist into the wall and spoke through gritted teeth. “I should have seen it.”

              Hux was standing now, dusting off his coat, obviously favoring his left arm. His stare was frozen over with icy loathing. “Now if you don’t mind,” he said, collecting what was left of his dignity, “we have some cleaning up to do, _Emperor_.”

              “Announce that there was an attempt on the future Empresses life,” Ben said. “Tomorrow I will personally meet with each possible benefactor in attendance to discuss any deals in more detail. Tell them we apologize for the interruption, but that such actions demanded swift retribution.”

              “Are you sure that is – “

              Ben lowered his chin and took a step toward Hux. The general immediately nodded in forced submission. “Yes, Emperor.”

              “I’ll keep an eye on Jeel,” Kezzik said. “The man hates me, but Ledo and Bosma have his trust after this last mission. The admiral may have more secrets worth digging for that justify letting him live a while longer.”

              Ben nodded agreement and Hux was out the door in two strides.

              Kezzik raised a lip in a smug expression directed at Ben. “You’re welcome.”

              Then in a whirl of black robes, he was gone, too, and Quinn closed the door behind them. He leaned against it, staring off into the darkened room, shoulders rising and falling with his breathing.

              “Thank you Quinn,” Ben said. “Get some rest.”

              Quinn bowed low, bid them good evening, and slipped out the door.

              “We should get you to bed, too,” Ben said, looking down at her. He was still tense. She could see it in the line of his jaw. But he lifted her from the couch and carried her to the bedroom with such tenderness, it was hard to believe he was capable of losing control the way he had. Again.

              “Stop thinking so loudly,” he grumbled, as he laid her down on the plush bedspread. She was still dizzy and the fabric swags draping over the massive four-poster bed seemed to sway in the nonexistent breeze.

              “I’m sorry,” she said. “I can’t control it. I still feel… different.”

              Ben pulled a stool from the dressing table and brought it to the edge of the bed.

              “Whatever poison got into your blood is still circulating,” he said, taking a seat on the stool. “The antidote only binds to the poison left and the healing I could do was limited. It will take some time.”

              “When did you know?” she asked. “That something was wrong with me?”

              “I knew when you mentioned my hands being soft.”

              A quick rush of embarrassment warmed her cheeks.

               “I didn’t leave for water,” he continued. “I left to find out who had poisoned you. I didn’t want to worry you until I knew for sure. And I shouldn’t have left you, but – ” He took a deep breath then and she saw his jaw finally relax and some of the tension drain from him. When he spoke, the tightness in his voice was replaced by something lighter, something almost shy. “I knew then something was affecting you, because you’ve never spoken so candidly about such things.”

              “They really are quite soft,” she said, surprising herself with her bluntness, and she silently cursed the effect of the bundar root.

              She listened to the sounds of a busy Coruscant evening filtering through the window as they sat together. She wished things were different, that they were still dancing, that he would only touch her now, reach his hand out and hold her.

              Maybe it was wrong to want him so much, so close, so often – especially when there was so much work to be done. Now, with even more of a mess to deal with, she was sure it was selfish. Still, with his body so close, the poison playing with her impulses, and his raw emotion coursing through their bond, so near, so raw – it was as if his body was singing to her. She wondered how his touch would feel when the sensations buzzing through her were so… intense.

              His hand was against her forearm in an instant, fingers running up and down her exposed wrist. She shivered and that tantalizing smirk of his demanded her heart to beat faster.

              “It’s not fair that you know all my secrets when I’m like this,” she said.

              “That wasn’t your _only_ secret.” He raised a roguish eyebrow. “Tell me another.”

              She let his touch carry her away, and she was talking, telling him things that maybe she should have kept beneath her shields.

              “This poison isn’t entirely unpleasant,” she said.

              His fingers brushing lightly against her skin brought heat to the back of her neck, and it was as though he was touching someplace much more… intimate.

              His low chuckle caught her off guard. “The eternal optimist. The only woman in the galaxy to ever enjoy being poisoned.”

              “I can’t think straight, but sounds and sensations are,” she paused, trying to collect the right words. “They’re stronger, richer.”

              “Interesting,” he said, moving his fingers up her arm as he leaned over the bed. His fingers continued their path, moving up her shoulder before lightly tracing the edge of her jaw, the shell of her ear and her skin erupted in another shiver of gooseflesh.

              She leaned into his touch, wanting more of his hand against her body.

              “Tell _me_ a secret,” she whispered.

              And the next moment, they were dancing. She was seeing their waltz from Ben’s point of view, through their bond, through his memory.

              Ben looked into her eyes with the ball whirling past her in the background. His heart was beating much faster than the rhythm of the quartet as he led her around the dance floor.

              _I don’t deserve this. I don’t deserve her,_ he thought.

He was suddenly acutely aware of his grip on her waist, the movement of her body under his hand, her tight muscles working with each step under his touch. He wanted to explore her. Oh Force, he wanted to touch her everywhere. A tingling heat began in his core again and he recognized the feeling immediately. It was happening much more often now. The burning ache of pure _want._

He gripped the darkness tighter, pulling it over his shoulders and across his mind. No one could know. If anyone else saw how much he wanted her…

              He swallowed, focusing again on her. She was radiant. The dress was perfect, highlighting the strength of her toned form, but still accentuating the delicate curve of her hips. His hand held her waist tighter, stroking just slightly, moving slowly around to her back, and he looked up to find her staring at him. Those eyes, seeing him not just as what he had been, but what he could be. And he ached to be those things for her. He let his gaze settle on her collarbone, delicate, soft… and he wanted to touch her there, too. Oh, Force they were only dancing. He needed to pull it together.

              Then the memory snapped and she was herself again, back in the bed with Ben’s hand still caressing the side of her face.

              Now, she knew exactly what was behind that hungry expression he was wearing. She’d felt it from inside of _him._ And almost instantly, the thought of his desire sent a surge of warmth through her own body. She grabbed his hand, guiding him from the chair and down onto the bed.

              Her voice was thick and ragged when she spoke into his ear. “I want you, too.”

              His boots were still on when he straddled across her in one fluid motion, taking her face in his hands and kissing her with the fierce, deep need of a man starved. One hand was tangled in her hair as he let the other drift down, to all of those places he’d let his mind wander while they’d danced.

              His breathless voice in her ear only magnified the warmth flaring inside of her. “The thought of losing you tonight, I…”

                ****

              But he didn’t have to say all of it because she could _feel_ it, the dark abyss was open to her now and she could feel _all_ of it, all of him pressed against her. His hand roamed lower, still teasing the edge of her curves down to her hip, finding bare skin at her back. Her corset top was halfway open already, having loosened it to heal her earlier. His tongue traced the rim of her ear as his hand massaged the tender skin at her back. When he exhaled a hot breath into her ear, it pulled a tiny whimper from her and she clung to him.

              ****

              “Rey,” he breathed. “I can’t, not with you like…”

              She wanted him to just shut up and kiss her harder, press himself closer.

              He drew a sharp breath before pushing himself onto his elbows and looking down at her. He was panting, eyes wild, his voice a raspy whisper. “Not like this…” he said.

              “Please,” she begged. Rey didn’t trust her voice to say anything more, she was so choked with this _need._

              But he was still. Unmoving as though if he shifted an inch, he would forget why he’d stopped touching her.

              So she only waited, trying to catch her breath as he continued. “With the poison in your system. I feel… it feels wrong,” he said.

              He rolled completely off of her then and the loss of his body against hers was excruciating. She groaned – there was no way she could disguise her frustration.

              “I’m sorry,” he said. “I shouldn’t have…”

              Her heart was still a frantic banging in her chest, but after another deep breath, she was able to cling to the tiny thread of control still left somewhere inside of her.

              She tried to focus on his feelings through the Force instead. Confusion and fear of hurting her, of taking advantage of her.

              She shook her head. No, he wasn’t taking advantage if it was something she wanted. Something she needed so badly it hurt. “My mind is working well enough to know I want this,” she said, her voice coming in a desperate gasp.

              He only swallowed, still not daring to move, and she could sense he was not going to change his mind.

              So she reached for him, bringing his arm back across her body. If she couldn’t have him in the way she wanted, then she would settle for being next to him. “Don’t apologize for this. For… us…”

              How could she be angry for this? He was actually denying his own passion to do what he felt was _right._ This was what she wanted wasn’t it? That moment, so long ago when she’d reached for his hand. She knew he could change. Now, seeing him finally acknowledge something besides just power and passion. It filled her with a different kind of warmth.

              They lay tangled in each other, breathing, thoughts mingling as their bond lay completely open to one another. And Rey was bathed in the conflict within him. The pull of his hunger for her against the need to respect her body. The rage at the threat to Rey against the value of a stranger’s life. The call of the dark and its power against the irresistible pull of the light.

              And Rey asked a question before she could consider his reaction. “Did you kill her?” she paused, the question hanging thick in the air around them. “The Twi’lek girl?”

              His body tensed against her and she knew the answer to her question. Jeel had likely forced the girl’s hand to the poison, and Ben had killed her for it. But the wave of regret that followed through their bond told her he needed comfort, not judgement.

              She reached out a hand, running it across his jaw, tensed with emotion now.

              “It’s easy for you,” he said, meeting her eyes again. “Coming and going. Using the dark and then leaving it behind. It’s…” he paused, the lights of the city through the picture window reflecting tears now filling his eyes. “It’s not that easy for me. The anger, at what she did – to you – I couldn’t…”

              His voice choked off and he turned his head, not allowing her to see his expression in that moment. But she reached for him, pulling his face back toward her to see a tear spill down his cheek. Rey reached a shaky hand to brush it away with her thumb, wondering if it was the first tear spilled for a life he’d taken.

              “No,” he said. “I wept for my father, too.”

              The raw honesty he was showing stung her eyes with tears of her own. Her emotions felt so close to the surface, too, with the world still leaning on its side from poison and passion.

              “Snoke sensed it,” he said. “Like you did. He knew what I’d done had only ripped me farther apart.”

              “Snoke is gone.” She spoke the words with finality. Why wouldn’t he just let go?

              “But the darkness isn’t.” He was tensing again, closing off.

              So, she reached out to him. “Then let me help you,” she said, letting the delicate caress of her hand speak to his fear. “To use the light. Like you helped me to wield the darkness.”

              Then Rey tugged lightly on his hair, pulling him down to her for one last kiss. She gathered her feelings of joy, of light, of _love_ and sent them through the bond.

              His response stunned her.

              With the blood of an innocent still on his hands, Ben Solo kissed her back with the warmth and radiance of the brightest day on Jakku. A flood of his light spilled into her, overflowing, pouring into every hidden place, and she could only cling helplessly to him as the Force of it rushed over her. She was blinded by it, breath stolen completely before it finally began to fade.

              His kiss lingered a moment longer, and just before he pulled away, she felt his lips turn up into a smile against hers.


End file.
